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We have talked about choosing your box, designing your storage inserts to keep your item safe, and some of the basic principles of assembling your storage box. Now it is time to give the interior of your container a finished look.

I thought a LOT about this and decided that the best approach would be pictures, so I did a simple box and took a bunch of pictures!

So here we have the process of a basic box. The entire box, the cut down box, and cutting the foam insert for the box – very messy process.

Here we have the final foam insert, stacked and glued together, the foam insert in the box, and the first fit of the fabric in the foam form. Once you are certain that the fabric is large enough, remove the storage item and the fabric from the foam. Apply the hot glue to the foam, put the fabric back in place, and quickly press the storage item back into the cavity. This will create a nicely lined cavity in the foam. Allow the hot glue to cool for a couple of minutes.

Trim the fabric into a rough circle (remember the box in this case is a circle so you want to be able to distribute the fabric evenly around the edge of the box). Lift up the edge of the fabric and apply more hot glue to hold the fabric down along the sides of the foam. Be extra careful during this process. The hot glue tends to leak out, and it can burn you and make a mess. I like to hold the fabric in place temporarily with a rubber band (that is what the blue stripe is). Allow the glue to cool and then, with the rubber band in place, slide the foam insert down into the box. As you slide it down, work the rubber band up and allow it to come off. Use a butter knife or a super thin metal spatula (narrow cake icing spatulas are perfect!) to push the fabric down between the foam and the wall of the box. This allows you to adjust the tension of the fabric and have a very neat and clean looking finish.

If I am using a form that is raised in the center, I glue the fabric in place on the foam and then tie a ribbon at the bottom of the center piece of foam for both appearance and sturdiness. The ribbon can be hot glued in place – be careful – random drips of hot glue on the lining will not look good! Or it can be pinned in place with straight pins. The pins are simply pushed through the ribbon and fabric and into the foam. I prefer to use flat headed plain metal pins – they look almost like tiny studs or nail heads. If you are concerned about the pins coming out, they can be glued in place with a tiny bit of liquid glue. I don’t usually glue them in place, but if I do I use glue that is compatible with the foam in my form and dries clear. I use as little as possible to avoid drips and smears.